James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was a legendary French actress of the stage and screen, famously portrayed on posters by Alphonse Mucha.

According to Mucha's son Jiří, as Sarah Bernhardt was still clinging to the pinnacle of her fame, she injured her foot on a rusty nail. For many years she tried to battle the decay of the leg, but it was no use. An amputation would necessary because it was becoming increasingly difficult to hide her infirmity.

According to Jiří Mucha's account:

"'Madame,' said Barnum on day to her, 'I will give you $50,000 for your leg if you will allow me to exhibit it in spirit.' Sarah turned the offer down, but subsequently when during her stay in New York the leg became gangrenous and surgical intervention could not be delayed any longer, she sent word to Barnum.

But the great showman was dead by then and his successors were not interested. The leg was amputated and, weighted with a heavy stone, secretly buried in the depths of the Hudson."

Image from Olga's Gallery.From "Alphonse Maria Mucha: His Life in Art" by Jiří Mucha, p. 241.

8 comments:

Well, Jim, you're right out of the gate on your way to 2,000 posts. Three in one day -- a bizarre story of a leg for sale, a tribute to the amazing William Stout, and a job posting. (Mr. Kooks might have the qualifications for the job, by the way).

GooGoo's suggestion of taking a break obviously fell on deaf ears, much to our edification and entertainment.

Jeff, I saw that on Wikipedia too. The Wiki version said that it was a different showman than Barnum and that he only offered $10,000. Who knows? That's why I credited the quoted account as Jiri's version.

True or not, that story is awesome. I like a time period when displaying the rotting limb of a famous celebrity was considered completely acceptable, or at least titillating enough to be a good serious business propostion. Fingers crossed, we can bring those times back again!

On one hand I'd love to bring back some of the romantic fever of that era back but on the other hand - that fever evolved into a worldwide lethal flu called 'die for your country' and resulted in two WOs of which we now no longer understand what lead people to believe that there is something nobel in conquering other nations.